Four out of ten households in Romania don’t have internet access, despite rapid growth of connections

The number of fixed internet connections in Romania increased by 7 percent last year, to 4.8 million, but 42 percent of households do not have access to the internet, according to new figures of Romania’s telecom regulator (ANCOM).

Some 58 percent of Romanian households had an internet connection at the end of 2017, up from 54 percent in December 2016.

The number of fixed internet connections in rural areas increased by 13 percent compared to the end of last year to 1.4 million. In urban areas, the number of connections rose by 5 percent to 3.4 million.

The coverage rate was 71 percent in urban areas and 41 percent in rural areas at the end of 2017, according to official data.

Two thirds (67 percent) of the fixed internet connections in Romania allow speeds of at least 100 Mbps, 11 percent between 30-100 Mbps, 13 percent between 10-30 Mbps and only 9 percent are connections at speeds below 10 Mbps.